Steph and Julie visit! Day 2

Woo~ I’m on a blogging roll!! On to day 2 of Steph and Julie’s visit and this time we head to the Island Garden City of Samal for something all three of us have never done before: Scuba Diving!

Look at us three nerds. LOL Why am I the one who’s blurred? (I just wrote a poem right there. Appreciate it, dear readers.)

This post is a very long one so I’m going to have to cut it here. The rest of the blog after the jump!

Did you jump? Alright, continue reading~

I contacted Samal Watersports (check them out, they’re awesome) to take us out for a whole day of sun, sea and sand~ Turns out, no one else booked on the day we booked them so we got the whole boat and tour to ourselves, and they didn’t even charge extra for lack of people!

Here’s our boat, Rotchel. She’s a beauty! Just like its passengers! (Yes, that includes me.) Imagine, all this space just for us~

No, they’re not taking selfies. We took photos of each other taking photos of each other. Although, I think in this photo… Julie was taking a selfie. She takes them more than I do. Hohoho

Before I forget, it wasn’t just us three that day. We were joined by my sister (left most) and her friends Issa, Joyce and Grace. Joyce and Grace are twins and (I’m sorry) I can’t tell which one is which in the photo……… *bad friend D:*

*Ehem* Anyways, we set sail after a few photo ops!

So this is pretty much us and the crew at the back. They served us fruits, which were waiting for us as soon as we boarded. So nice of them.

The boat ride to our first stop took a while so… here are even more photos!

Julie’s ‘dope’ hat.

A resort we passed by. The low tide makes the slide look scary. Haha

Steph’s not happy with her photo… maybe. LOL

Swagged up the boat~

Took a photo of our oxygen tanks!

Behind the scenes of the shoot. LOL

We brought these expensive popcorn with us and shared some with the crew. It was a fight of the cheeses. Steph’s was ‘Smoked Gouda’, Julie’s was ‘White Cheddar’, and I forgot mine… but it was still some kind of cheese. The winner is still undeclared, although I’m sure Steph will claim the title. Do not believe her. Do not believe that smile. Clearly, Julie doesn’t care who wins… she just kept eating, even while the photo was being taken.

It was fun getting into the wet suits, though a bit of an endeavour. We were also briefed before the dive. Like, what to do, what not to do, how to do stuff in case we encounter trouble like if we get water inside our goggles, etc, etc. The crew was cool and they spoke great english, too, so Steph and Julie could understand… otherwise they would drown. Hohoho~

After we’ve been briefed, we were ready!!!

So, for the first dive, we let my sister and her friends do it. They had to go down two at a time and they were accompanied by the professional divers in the crew.

Into the water! Basically, we had to wear the suit, a sort of backpack with the oxygen tank as the bag, goggles, and fins. I think that’s my sister in the photo.

I don’t know who this is. LOL But I’m sure it’s one of my sister’s friends. Probably Issa.

The following photos are courtesy of the twins! They brought their GoPro with them so we got to take photos underwater!! These are the photos my sister and her friends took during their dive.

Basically, this is the setup when you dive down. A pro-diver stays behind you, guiding you underwater because I think we would have drowned and died if they didn’t. LOL

While my sister and her friends were diving, Steph, Julie and I waded around and tried snorkelling. I forgot to mention that Julie doesn’t know how to swim… at all. So we basically held her hand the whole time. It was brave of her to still go into the water despite her fear. It also helped that we kept pushing her to go swim.

Safety first. Vests, ON!

Getting ready to push Julie off the boat snorkel! We didn’t get photos while snorkeling ‘coz the GoPro was still with the divers. Basically we saw the coral reef and a bunch of fish. The current was pretty strong, too, so it was a bit of a struggle on my part when we realised we were a ways off away from the boat and I had to swim back while pulling Steph and Julie with me, fighting the current all the while. I think I got ripped just by doing that.

We realised we were old not as young as we used to be because after that little swim, we basically went back up to the boat and started eating like crazy. Julie didn’t even have time to take off her life vest. Haha! So sad. Look at Steph go!

We took photos with the little energy we got from eating popcorn. LOL

And then the crew announced one of Julie’s favourite words. LUNCH!

Not only were the crew awesome hosts and divers, they were mean cooks! We definitely got re-energised from this lunch. Plus, we got some rest at Babusanta Beach before we headed for the next dive spot.

Here’s some photos from Babusanta Beach! Crystal clear blue waters as far as the eye can see! There were a few boats docked there. I guess it’s a famous stop for island hopping trips!

I think half of the people in the beach, or more than half, were Koreans. Those are Koreans playing beach volleyball. The people at the back part of the photo, under the shade of the coconut trees, are also Koreans.

And there were a ton of Korean babies! So cute with their attires and caps~ Took this creeper shot. Steph took one, too. So I wasn’t alone in being a creeper. LOL

We had some fun in the sand while we were there. Steph and Julie pretending to be at a crime scene. I don’t know if you can see it but I drew Steph’s outline on the sand.

Resting on the sand like bawses.

Fast-forward to the next dive spot, the Angel’s Cove. Here, it was our turn to dive!

I think the goggles make me look even more Chinese.

We had to get into the water by literally walking off the boat with one step.

Steph got too excited and jumped off the boat before her “1, 2, 3” countdown even finished. Was so funny. XD

Then it was Julie, the non-swimmer’s, turn. She didn’t really need too much pushing. Haha Really brave of her.

Then all three of us go underwater. Me and Julie together with a pro-diver and Steph with a different one. Once again, the photos are courtesy of the twins’ GoPro! I think I took too many underwater selfie shots…

We got pretty up close and personal with the corals and the fish. It was a different world, under water. And every time I would see trash down there and how even just one tiny wrapper destroys the whole image, it saddened me. I’ve never been the type to throw garbage into the ocean… and I don’t think I’ll start. I hope everyone throws their garbage properly. The ocean is a not a waste bin.

After our dive we tried out kayaking and was almost attacked by a school of flying fish. I took a video but didn’t get to catch the almost-attack on film.

Here’s some photos instead. LOL

After Angel’s Cove, we rode the boat back to Davao City. The ride back was one of my favourite parts of the day. The crew didn’t really mind where we sat down during the ride so we stayed at the… umm.. I don’t know what part of the boat it’s called. So, here’s a photo. LOL

It was such a peaceful ride back. Just chilling there and watching the sun set while eating pineapples. The best.

As soon as we got back to the hotel, though.

Knock down. Well, it was a long day. Obvious by how long this post was. Tired as we were, we still had one more day of activities ahead of us! Posting it up soon!